By Laura Bly, USA TODAYOn your marks, armchair travelers: The 13th season of CBS' reality show The Amazing Race lifts off Sunday night, heading for another adrenaline-fueled romp around the globe.The program, which just won a sixth Emmy as the best reality show, features 11 two-person teams who battle jet lag and culture shock as they try to beat one another to exotic destinations and perform a variety of challenges for a $1 million prize.

This year's 23-day itinerary, revealed in advance for the first time, covers 30,000 miles and has 11 stops in eight countries: Brazil, Bolivia, New Zealand, Cambodia, India, Kazakhstan, Russia and the USA (the race starts in L.A. and finishes in Portland, Ore.). Contestants include an ex-Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and her actor brother to married, tie-dye-wearing beekeepers from Eugene, Ore.

By Laura Bly, USA TODAYAn avid traveler with visits to more than 100 countries, The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan has eaten dinner on top of Italy's Stromboli volcano and narrowly escaped an oil tanker while swimming across Turkey's Bosporus strait. As the reality show launches its 13th season Sunday, he shares some other on- and off-air adventures with USA TODAY.

Q: You're returning for the seventh time to India, which makes it the show's most-visited destination after the USA. What's the appeal?A: It's my favorite (place for the show). I don't know a more diverse, colorful, dynamic country in the world. There's a sameness and comfort level you get living in a country like America. For people like Nancy and Emily (a first-season mother and daughter team who had a tough time negotiating crowds in New Delhi and Agra), it was like being on another planet.

Q: You're also going back to your birthplace, New Zealand, the adventure capital of the world, for the third time. What new thrills can we expect to see?A: New Zealanders are very proud of their indigenous Maori culture, and we were looking to get something of that in the show. We ended up having the teams search for Maori warriors on an extinct volcano (near Auckland), and it was the most magical morning when they arrived: As the sun was rising, there were these warriors doing the haka (a traditional war dance) with a magnificent rainbow over the top of the hill.

Q. This season's show includes stops in three new countries: Bolivia, Cambodia and Kazakhstan, the former Soviet republic best known as Borat's fictional homeland. Impressions?A. La Paz, Bolivia, is the most extraordinary city. We fly in (to one of the world's highest airports at 13,000 feet) and climb from there up to this place where the teams have to perform with cholitas, or female wrestlers. And Borat didn't do Kazakhstan any favors with the way he depicted it. I was surprised at the sophistication and their dry sense of humor.

Q: You created a "things to do before I die" list when you were 19 after surviving a near-fatal scuba-diving accident. How has it changed over the years?A: My original list was adventure-based (from shark diving to sky diving, both of which he's checked off) and pretty selfish. Once I got married and had my daughter, I realized that life was not just what you do for yourself, but "how can I help others write their own lists and overcome their own challenges and obstacles?" And, at the end of the day, it's not about where you are but who you're there with.

Q: One of your favorite traveling companions has been your dad, John.A: We made a pact to travel together at least once a year, and so far we've done some extraordinary trips. We did a cross-country driving trip that was probably the best of my life. … we just talked for 10 days straight. And you'll see my dad make an appearance in this season's New Zealand episode, where I was able to help him celebrate his 66th birthday.

Q: People have dissed The Amazing Race for perpetuating "Ugly American" stereotypes, from screaming at cabdrivers to running around in tank tops in a conservative country. Guilty as charged?A: There are some people in this country who travel as an ugly American, and some who don't. We can't play it one way and make a show that's only about those who are respectful and try to do the right thing, because that's not reality. Hopefully, discerning viewers are saying, that is a side we don't want to perpetuate, and contrasting it with a team that takes the opposite approach. With Chip and Kim (married parents who won the race in Season 5), that's exactly what happened: They were very respectful to the locals, and the locals went out of their way to help them, and they ended up with good karma. Five minutes later, another team came in that were very rude and judgmental. That's what makes our show interesting.

By Laura Bly, USA TODAYAn avid traveler with visits to more than 100 countries, The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan has eaten dinner on top of Italy's Stromboli volcano and narrowly escaped an oil tanker while swimming across Turkey's Bosporus strait. As the reality show launches its 13th season Sunday, he shares some other on- and off-air adventures with USA TODAY.

Q: One of your favorite traveling companions has been your dad, John.A: We made a pact to travel together at least once a year, and so far we've done some extraordinary trips. We did a cross-country driving trip that was probably the best of my life. … we just talked for 10 days straight. And you'll see my dad make an appearance in this season's New Zealand episode, where I was able to help him celebrate his 66th birthday.

With a doctorate in Plant Science, John has worked internationally in the area of environmental agriculture, while Beth has been a school teacher and private piano teacher for over 40 years. Their work has seen them take up residency in Canada, Australia and the Caribbean.

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"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

EB: What was the best challenge? The worst one?BVM: I think we came up with some great ones. No bad ones. I thought it was very funny, the teeter totter in Taiwan (in AR12).

EB: The most heartbreaking one to me was (in AR6) when Lena stood in that field in Sweden for hours and hours, unrolling bales of hay, and she’s crying and her hands are bleeding. And finally Phil just put a stop to it.BVM: That was one of my proudest moments. I’m driving through Sweden and I see these rolls of hay in a field and I say to myself ‘I’m going to put 350 of these rolls in a big field and stick a clue in some of them.’ I tell you, it was fantastic.

EB: I’ve only ever really liked two teams that won: Chip and Kim and Uchenna and Joyce.BVM: I have stood there so many times and thought, ‘Who will win this race?’ We have never guessed it right. How’s that for a reality show, we do it and we cannot guess it right. That’s why it is so fascinating.

EB: To this day, my favorite moment was when Freddy (in AR6) threw up in his bowl of soup and then had to continue to eat it. We still talk about that.BVM (laughing uproariously): We did this in a very, very fine restaurant, the finest restaurant in Budapest. The people were horrified. I had told them it would be a nice advertisement for their restaurant and people are throwing up into their soup. And I wanted the Hungarian music, I wanted that whole atmosphere, like a Danny Kaye movie, very fast paced, blasting in your ear, and you are trying to eat extremely hot soup. It was fantastic.

EB: You’re not a very nice man, are you?BVM: I’m a lovable guy. I’m a really nice guy.

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

This article by TV critic Alan Sepinwall appeared in today's Newark Star-Ledger:

The Amazing RaceCBS, Sunday 8pm

When Phil Keoghan was not among the nominees for the first-ever Emmy award for reality show host, "race" fans were outraged....Phil and his fans should be grateful he was snubbed.

As for the Race iteself, it's always hard to judge a new season based on the premiere, when there are too many contestants and too much backstory, but this doesn't yet feel like one of the more inspired groupings. There are some obvious teams to look for (a pair of friendly comic book geeks) and against (two leering frat brothers), as well as one of the most squirm-inducing couple hooks the show has ever done (a cheating husband going on the show to convince his wife to take him back). Mostly, though, the problem is that the first leg plays out without any unexpected developments; no brilliant maneuvers or crippling mistakes, and the losing team just loses because they were a little slower than the next-to-last team.

The last sentence makes it very likely that the predictions many of us have made that Arthur and Anita are the first team eliminated in AR13 are correct. They strike me as a relaxed couple who are too laid-back to "go for it." In 60 hours we will know.

Youll see a lot of bizarre and exotic people, places and things on The Amazing Race, but youll never see the target moose  unless you penetrate the shows inner sanctum.

Beginning its 13th season on Sunday, CBS reality show sends its two-person teams of contestants on globe-circling adventures, where they see incredible sights and participate in grueling challenges, all in pursuit of a million-dollar prize and hearty congratulations from host Phil Keoghan.

The show has had high-profile success  including many Emmy wins. But a fan could be standing right in the parking lot of the nerve center of The Amazing Race and be utterly unaware its even there.

The home base of married executive producers Bertram Van Munster and Elise Doganieri sits in the midst of aviation, financial, technology and other corporate headquarters in El Segundo, Calif. The seaside town chosen for its location south of Los Angeles International Airport.

Just inside the office entrance is a life-size target moose, which has yet to make its debut on the show.

The large space includes open areas with tables and computers, private offices, editing bays and the shows war room, a map-lined conference space where the race is sketched out and tracked.

The AR staff must do all the logistical heavy lifting necessary to send 11 two-person teams across several continents.

This involves arranging flights, visas, immunizations and challenge details for the teams, along with additional travel details for camera crews and producers.

On this day, the staff is working on post-production for the current season and is in preplanning for season 14.

Its not improvised, says Van Munster. Its laid out. We look at every camera position, every location, everything that goes into the logistical package. It has to fit into the dollar number; it has to fit in the time schedule.

When Phil Keoghan wasn't among the nominees for the first-ever Emmy award for best reality show host, "Race" fans were outraged. After the neutron bomb that was the Emmy-hosting stint by the five actual nominees -- a performance so awful that the presenters and winners were complaining about it during the show, which even David Letterman was spared after he introduced Oprah to Uma at the Oscars -- Phil and his fans should be very grateful he was snubbed.

As for the "Race" itself, it's always hard to judge a new season based on the premiere, when there are too many contestants and too much backstory to sift through, but this doesn't yet feel like one of the more inspired groupings. There are some obvious teams to root for (a pair of friendly comic book geeks) and against (two leering frat brothers), as well as one of the more squirm-inducing couple hooks the show has ever done (a cheating husband going on the show to convince his wife to take him back). Mostly, though, the problem is that the first leg plays out without any unexpected developments; no brilliant maneuvers or crippling mistakes, and the losing team just loses because they were a little slower than the next-to-last team.

"Bees Are Much Calmer Than All This": An Advance Look at the Season Premiere of "The Amazing Race" I'm already rooting for comic book geeks Mark and Bill.

It seems like a lifetime since we last had an installment of reality series The Amazing Race and, after an interminable wait, the series finally returns this Sunday night at 8 pm. I had the opportunity to watch the season premiere a few days ago (that thing was burning a hole on my coffee table until I sat down to watch it) and was immediately sucked back into the addictive world of road blocks, detours, and Phil Keoghan.

So anyway, all involved head to Brazil and scurry around (another great thing about this show is how it demonstrates that corporate attorneys have not overrun the cultures of foreign lands - there still exist on the planet ill-advised tourist attractions that look totally fun but even more totally dangerous) until that fatal moment where the host announces: "We interrupt the frenetic, coke-addled pacing to bring the show to an abject crawl in order to present some utterly belabored product placement for an online travel service."

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

ok, party's over - unwinding here! just remembered that i saw phil on NBC Extra yesterday being interviewing in his home office - just briefly - but i do remember one significant thing he said which i don't think has been mentioned here before - he said " one team lost some important documentation and some valuables that was ultimately detrimental to their situation in the race, not good not good at all", and then "we make sure everybody gets home safe and sound".

so i'm not so sure about the portland mixup scenario anymore, seems like one team lost (left somewhere or had it stolen) their fanny pack with all their clues and their passports + credit card etc and that's why they don't make it to the final 3.

finally a good quote "New places and new faces make for Amazing Races"!!

I do have this clip on my DVR but not sure how complicated it would be to get it online from there...

NBC took the lead at 8 p.m. with "Sunday Night Football," 9.2/14. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" rose to 7.4/11 on ABC. The conclusion of "60 Minutes" and the season premiere of "The Amazing Race" scored a 6.2/10 for CBS.